DEPARTMENT III Department of Methods of Brain Imaging and Functional Research of Nervous System

Head of the Department: Prof. Tiaza Bem, PhD, DSc

In the Department investigation is focused on methodology of the functional research of the nervous system, in particular on imaging, analysis and modeling of the activity of the brain and neuro-muscular system. Laboratory of Biomedical Optics deals with modern techniques of medical diagnosis based on interaction of light with the tissue structure. Particularly, the theoretical and experimental studies are devoted to improvement of two tissue optics techniques: near infrared spectroscopy and laser-Doppler flowmetry. These techniques allow for assessment of changes in the tissue oxygenation related to enhancement of neural activity in specific brain regions. In Laboratory of Modeling and Electrophysiological Methods research is devoted to neural information processing at different levels of nervous system: from motoneurons and muscle fibers they innervate to specific structures of cortex and hippocampus where information flow is related to cognitive action. Electrophysiological data acquired on human and animals are analyzed using mathematical modeling as well as advanced methods of signal analysis, including methods elaborated in the Laboratory.

Our research is focused on investigation of some aspects of neural information processing in nervous system in physiological and pathological conditions, using experimental, numerical and modeling methods. Following research directions are conducted:

Effect of pathological changes of muscle structure on EMG pattern.

Relationships between intrinsic motoneuron properties and their physiological and pathological form of activity. Characteristics of motor unit firing patterns for different age, after stroke, in different neurodegenerative diseases.

Memory consolidation. Analysis of behavioral data and brain electrical activity recorded via multielectrode system during spatial memory formation in rodents: relationships between activity patterns in different brain areas and performance in memory tests. Effect of high frequency hipocampal oscillations “ripples” on stabilization of memory traces in the model neural network. Relationships between different type of synaptic plasticity, network dynamics and quantity of processed information.

Functional connectivity: transmission of electrical activity between brain structures. Properties of different transmission estimators: effect of common source and volume transmission. Propagation of information in brain structures during memory tests in human. Changes of the brain functional organization in neurological (stroke, epilepsy) and psychiatric patients.